Saturday, January 7, 2012

British Destroyer Heading to Persian Gulf

British Royal Navy’s HMS Daring, a Type 45 destroyer, is heading to the Persian Gulf amid threats by the Iranian military to stop foreign warships from entering the gulf.

HMS Daring is Britain’s newest warship that has a “stealth” design to help avoid detection by radar, the first of new destroyers replacing 1970’s Type 42 ships. The Type 45s are armed with high-tech Sea Viper anti-air missiles. They also have a large flight deck that can accommodate Chinook-type helicopters.

The deployment of HMS Daring to the Persian Gulf had been planned well in advance of the Iranian threat and it is considered entirely routine. Iran has also threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz if new sanctions disrupt its ability to export its oil. Daring will join other British warships already in the region.

British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond said in Washington earlier this week that both Britain and the US would ensure that their response to any provocation was “very measured, that there isn't an accidental escalation."

"What we cannot answer for is whether there is a plan on the other side to escalate," the secretary added.

Actually when referring to Iran's recent declaration concerning a potential closure of the Straight of Hormuz, it's more of a counter-threat and less a simple "threat" in as much as it represents a response to a threat being made against them in the form of effecting a blockade-like sanction against their petroleum export industry with which they are heavily reliant.

The humiliation is on the Islamic regime conduct in their pathetic practice of storming a foreign embassy by middle aged men claiming to be "students".This practice by a bunch of illiterate fanatics has made Iranians ashamed in the eyes of the world.You've forgotten how the Iranian "diplomats" in London were ashamed to show their faces to the camera's when they were told to leave England.One of them got into his car with an umbrella sticking outside the car door whilst reversing into a parked car then hitting another parked car while escaping forwards and away.Talk about humiliation !If you think that dingy and the small British Royal navy crew that the IRGC captured was a major naval victory for the regime then think again because this time the straits will have to be left open at all costs that includes sinking all hostile vessels against the US and royal navies.Now if you think the US and Royal navy doesn't have anti ship missiles of their own then I'm afraid you have been wildly misinformed by your future belated government.Not only they have those weapons but more than you can imagine.The bottom line is that the Islamic regime will lose the conflict of the straits which will lead to the utter humiliation of the Islamic authorities.And of course they will have to explain that to the angry and fed up Iranian nation.

The English colonialists/crusaders will take a beating, no doubt. The so called high tech counter missile systems onboard won't provide any garantuee - remember the Israeli warship that was crippled by a small C-701. It had the kind of fancy stuff that some people so blindly put their trust in, yet it was struck by an anti-ship missile and had to be tugged back to port. That warship was unable to divert single missile, how would a US or English warship fare against several incoming missiles...

Plus the Iranian have Sejil-2, Fateh-110 and Shahab-3 with Mirv and cluster warheads that can explode overhead and knock out all the aircrafts sitting on the carrier.

Bottomline: don't underestimate the Iranians. They will respond ferociously against any aggression. US and England will take losses, and it's this knowledge of what the Iranians are able to do, and their own unwillingness to lose both equipment and men is what keeps them from striking Iran.

A researcher says the highly propagated US naval supremacy counts for little in the Strait of Hormuz as the geography of the Persian Gulf region and Iran's naval might will jeopardize American interests there.

“Primacy does not mean invincibility. US naval forces in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf are nonetheless vulnerable,” Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya wrote in an article on Global Research.

He explained the narrow geography of the Persian Gulf, and Iran's advanced missile and torpedo arsenal “would make short work of US naval assets in the waters of the Persian Gulf where US vessels are constricted.”

The sociologist and award-winning author added that even Iran's small patrol boats are capable of inflicting mortal damage on the US warships. “These Iranian patrol boats can easily launch a barrage of missiles that could significantly damage and effectively sink large US warships. Iranian small patrol boats are also hardly detectable and hard to target.”

Iran's Navy successfully test-fired a new long-range coast-to-sea missile called Qader (Capable) and a state of the art surface-to-surface Nour (Light) missile on the last day of its recent naval maneuvers in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

With its range of 200 kilometers, the Qader missile has highly destructive power and can destroy targets, including frigates, warships as well as enemy coastal targets.

Nour, a 120 kilometer anti-ship cruise missile, is designed to sink a target of 10,000 tons and above.

Nazemroaya further reasoned even Pentagon's own war simulations have shown that a war in the Persian Gulf with Iran “would spell disaster for the United States and its military.”

He cited the example the Millennium Challenge 2002 (MC02) US drill in the Persian Gulf, which was conducted from July 24 to August 15, 2002 and took almost two years to prepare.

The political analyst argued that although the drill was “officially” presented as a simulation of a war against Iraq under the rule of President Saddam Hussein, “in actuality these war games pertained to Iran.”

“In Millennium Challenge 2002's war scenario, Iran would react to US aggression by launching a massive barrage of missiles that would overwhelm the US and destroy sixteen US naval vessels - an aircraft carrier, ten cruisers, and five amphibious ships. It is estimated that if this had happened in real war theater context, more than 20,000 US servicemen would have been killed in the first day following the attack.”

Nazemroaya said Iran's patrol boats would then overwhelm the remainder of the Pentagon's naval forces in the Persian Gulf, “which would result in the damaging and sinking of most of the US Fifth Fleet and the defeat of the United States.”

“The entire world knows the importance of the Strait of Hormuz and Washington and its allies are very well aware that the Iranians can militarily close it for a significant period of time,” he asserted.

How can a Shahab 3 or Fateh 110 and Sejil 2 hit a moving aircraft carrier from 500 miles away at pin point accuracy with or without MIRV ?Those missiles are for hitting stationary targets like city blocks and air bases and so on. Not moving targets at sea which is located over 500 miles away from the coast.At that range Iran's air force is useless at sea and their boats and 3 submarines will be sitting ducks for the US F18 hornets and helicopter anti submarine warfare as well as gunships.Not only that but the US and UK have anti ship missiles so Iranian navy and IRGC will be receiving a few of those for free as well.Lets face it if Islamic regime means it they would have done it and if they do try to block the straits it would be political and military suicide for the regime.After all regime needs to export the oil through the straits to survive and of course the US and UK navies control the lid on the bottle for the bottle to flow freely.And one more thing the aggression will be started by Islamic regime when they block the straits because it was that big mouth commander who said he will.Now lets test his theory when he warned that he is not in the habit of repeating twice.The US and UK navy will make him look like an big mouthed idiot.

mat.....Let me explain in large letters because you sound very absurd.This is not meant to be rude or nasty but simply put and straight to the point for you and your Hezbollah friends on this forum.

THE US NAVY WILL NOT BE SITTING NEAR THE NARROW STRAITS SO THAT SOME SILLY HEZBOLLAH ILLITERATE CAN FIRE ITS PRIMITIVE MISSILE TOWARDS THEM.THE US NAVY WILL BE 100 PLUS MILES AWAY FROM THE COAST IN THE ARABIAN SEA AND LET THEIR AIR FORCE START THE TASK THEN THEY WILL MOVE IN FOR THE KILL.

Was that easy for you to read in big letters or are you and your Hezbollah friends that dense to understand that as well?

@AnonJan 8,3:40pm"THE US NAVY WILL NOT BE SITTING NEAR THE NARROW STRAITS SO THAT SOME SILLY HEZBOLLAH ILLITERATE CAN FIRE ITS PRIMITIVE MISSILE TOWARDS THEM.THE US NAVY WILL BE 100 PLUS MILES AWAY FROM THE COAST IN THE ARABIAN SEA AND LET THEIR AIR FORCE START THE TASK THEN THEY WILL MOVE IN FOR THE KILL".

It's obvious to me, now, that you know nothing about litoral combat manouvers. 100 miles, or for that matter, 200 miles of distance is extremely dangerous territory! when it comes to short range litoral combat. I suggest that you read the book, (Operation mekong delta)a book about US Naval operations in Vietnam. The Iranians have and assortment of fast missile attack boats, submarines, frigates,and corvetes. That can match these distances and beyond. Be advised that if USN/NATO Carriers are located at this distance, note that several well placed torpedos and supersonic sea skimming missiles will finish the job, sufficiently. Furthermore, the IRIN has conducted naval operations as far as the Suez Canal. It would behoove you to conduct some research on the matter, before posting, inbarassing and senseless comments, for all to see the level of your education, or the lack their of.

It's obvious that you didn't read properly because I wrote 100 PLUS MILES that could mean 100 miles to 10000 miles.

There are some jack asses out there that make comparisons to Vietnam or North Korea. Iran is none of them.These jack asses believe that only Iran possesses speed boats armed with anti ship missiles.Hell these people think that Iran has the only submarine & ballistic missile force in the world and the US/UK navies will be anchoring inside the narrow straits so that some half witted illiterate Hezbollah fanatic can target them.I suggest these dummies go buy some navel books and hopefully be able to read and understand them so that they don't come on blog sites and spew their illiterate nonsense at other bloggers.

You cannot reason with dummy Hezbollah air heads.You know what's it like trying to explain some facts to some idiots. It's just impossible.But never mind they will learn the hard way when the IRGC high command is shown the back door leading to their mullahs subject matter.

There are some crazies out there that think that only Iran possesses missiles and submarines.But what these crazies fail to realize is that Iran has no modern air force to challenge the American naval and air superiority.These ultra crazies think that the flow of missiles will be heading only in one direction namely towards US/UK ships.But little do these crazies know that the US/UK possess far more and better quality advanced missiles that could knock the spots out of anything the Iranian /IRGC navy possesses.

The warship, the UK's Royal Navy is dispatching to the Persian Gulf in yet another act of stupid sabre-rattling against Iran, is not so advanced as they have been propagating it to be.

Earlier, on Saturday, British media outlets widely covered a report by the Daily Telegraph, saying that the Royal Navy is to send its “most formidable warship HMS Daring” to the Persian Gulf region for its first mission.

Those outlets tried to paint a grand picture of a warship touted as the most advanced of its kind in the world with extreme radar tracking and maneuvering capabilities that bumped against a tug on her way to the Southampton port in September 2010.

The much-talked-about warship was damaged as it could not even get around the tug, which lost power to its engines, blocking the warship.

Again, the so-called Type 45 destroyer had to go into the dock with major engine problems on November 2010. The warship was temporarily left adrift as its engines' failure exacerbated and the Royal Navy was forced to be towed to Canada for emergency repairs.

Meanwhile, the UK government is beating the drums of war against Iran at a time when its armed forces including, the Royal Navy, are stretched thin by budget cuts.

An earlier report warned that the Royal Navy has been left without carrier-borne strike fighters to the extent that it cannot even field a Frigate or Destroyer to patrol its home waters on a full time basis.

Actually, as the report reiterated, the seas surrounding the British isles have been left without a so-called Fleet Ready Escort ship since October.

Since scaling back its surface combat fleet to 19 frigates and destroyers, the UK was having a hard time keeping up with this requirement while conducting military operations off the coast of Libya.

“I would hardly say it is a luxury. If there was a terrorism incident in UK waters, this would historically be the ship sent in to deal with it”, said former First Sea Lord Admiral Lord Alan West at the time.

“It's a big problem. If we haven't got a ship ready to do this role then it's worrying. It's a very unsatisfactory position to be in”, he added.

This comes as the large dimensions of the type 45 destroyer and its 7,350-ton displacement, which makes it the heaviest combat ship in the British navy, make it a moving target for any missile battery as military experts say any attack with more than three cruise missiles has a good chance of hitting the vessel.

Moreover, the misery of the flawed equipment for the British navy is only worsened by the fact the personnel operating those equipment are not that professional either.

In March 2007, Iranian naval forces captured 15 British Royal Navy personnel for trespassing into the Iranian territorial waters off Iran-Iraq border coast.

Their capture dealt a heavy blow to Britain's international standing after the royal navy personnel appeared in TV footage with their hands up in the air.

However, British policymakers have failed to learn a lesson from their past mistakes and their almost century-old animosities towards the Iranian nation and government.

It seems that the UK monarchs have easily forgotten the misery they created in Iraq following years of economic sanctions, military invasion and occupation under totally false pretexts.

This is while in Iran, people and officials take such 'daunting' moves by foreign powers including Britain with a pinch of salt.

Iran's Navy chief Habibollah Sayyari said on Wednesday December 28 that the country can easily shut the strategic Strait of Hormuz despite threats by the US and its western allies.

“Closing the Strait of Hormuz for Iran's armed forces is really easy ... it will be easier than drinking a glass of water,” Sayyari said. What went clearly shows Britain is nothing but a toothless old fox struggling to renew a long-lost splendor.

mat.....Closing the straits is easy for about a day until every US aircraft from the carrier groups destroys every single hostile boat in the straights.Your full of it and know full well that the US navy will make Swiss cheese out of Iranian navy.Now go and do your barking elsewhere.

An American defense analyst has outlined several reasons why the US administration should not become involved in military confrontation with Iran.

Adam Lowther, a member of the faculty at the US Air Force's Air University, called on US politicians to consider options before deciding on a military attack against Iran.

1. Iran possesses what is likely the most capable military the US has faced in decades.

Lowther explained that Iran is not like Grenada, Panama, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Serbia, Afghanistan or Iraq that the US invaded, adding that in all of these examples, the US military defeated an adversary incapable of competing with the US.

He also noted that the Iranian military is far more competent and capable and after watching the war in Iraq for a decade has a good understanding of US tactics and strategy.

The analyst said Iran's Navy is skilled in littoral combat and may be capable of closing the Strait of Hormuz for sufficient duration to wreak economic havoc. The recent naval exercises by the Iranian navy illustrate a clear strategy that would seek to close the strait while attempting to sink American combat vessels that enter the area. This would result in a significant loss of commercial shipping and cause the price of oil to skyrocket.

2. Unlike Iraq, Iran's Army and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps will not lay down their arms at the first sight of US ground troops.

Lowther said that Iranian military forces watched Afghanistan and Iraq for lessons on how to defeat the Americans.

3. The Iranian Intelligence Ministry is among the most competent in the world.

According to the writer, the ministry has successfully hunted down anti-Iran elements over the past thirty years.

4. Lebanese resistance movement of Hezbollah can help Iran in a possible US war on Iran.

The defense analyst stated that should the US military attack Iran, Hezbollah, with three decades of experience fighting the Israelis, is likely to launch a series of counter-attacks.

5. Iran's cyber capabilities are impressive and growing.

Lowther wrote that an attack on Iran's nuclear infrastructure is likely to prompt a sustained cyber-attack unlike any we have seen. It will likely target critical data in the public and private sector and seek to wreak havoc, shut down systems, and destroy data.

6. The US military deserves a rest from war after a decade of intense combat operations.

Lowther reminded that how wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have taken their toll on American soldiers, their families, and the equipment they rely on.

7. A "limited attack" on Iran will likely escalate into a wider war, making it difficult for the US military to rest and refit.

The expert said even a focused strike against Iran's nuclear facilities will elicit a response well beyond "limited" US objectives.

The author in the end once again urged the US government to weigh all options before resorting to military conflict against Iran.

You don't have to believe if you choose not too.But the reality is that it is the most advanced anti missile air defense ship in the world.If you have a hard time believing it then wake up to reality pal and believe it because it's true.And those so called Chinese reliable sources (your words)know better than you or your so called reliable sources.

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